{"id":19735,"date":"2022-10-03T07:42:53","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T07:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/?p=19735"},"modified":"2022-10-03T07:42:53","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T07:42:53","slug":"has-cabinet-violated-official-secrets-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/2022\/10\/03\/has-cabinet-violated-official-secrets-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Has cabinet violated Official Secrets Act?"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: <\/strong>As the ongoing \u201ccipher imbroglio\u201d deepened in the country in the aftermath of recent audio leaks, a former diplomat questioned on Sunday the federal cabinet\u2019s move to mention the cipher\u2019s number and date and annexure in the cabinet summary.<\/p>\n

Referring to the federal cabinet documents that were released to media on Sunday which carried the cabinet\u2019s summary, the retired diplomat said that if the whole cabinet had read the cipher then it was a violation of the Official Secrets Act.<\/p>\n

The cabinet decided on Sunday to initiate legal action against former prime minister Imran Khan and others over conversation \u201cavailable on the internet regarding the Cypher Message received from Parep Washington (Cypher No. I-0678 dated 7th March 2022) (Annex-I)\u201d.<\/p>\n

The retired ambassador, who spoke to The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity, said that the cabinet had apparently violated the Official Secrets Act by mentioning the cipher\u2019s particulars with the summary.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy revealing the date and number and stating that it was annexed with the summary, an impression arises that the whole cabinet has read it and thus violated the secrets act,\u201d the former diplomat said. \u201cEven citing cipher No and date is a violation of the official secret act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can cipher\u2019s copy be made?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A cipher is distributed as per its grading. According to the diplomat the circulation of grade I and grade II telegrams is different but it\u2019s up to the originator to specify the intended audience. The grade I cipher has limited circulation than the one categorised as grade II, he said.<\/p>\n

The retired diplomat, who had served as Pakistan\u2019s ambassador during his illustrious career, explained that ciphers were decoded at the crypto centre at Foreign Office and it automatically generates the given number of ciphers.
\nHe further stated that there was no concept of copying the cipher as the machine would only generate ciphers as per the distribution list \u2013 grade I or II \u2013 unless mentioned that it was only for a specific person.<\/p>\n

The \u201cRecord Copy\u201d \u2013 usually referred to as the original \u2013 stays at the Foreign Office, the former envoy said, adding that making copies of the cipher was not allowed under the law \u2013 Official Secrets Act \u2013 and one needed permission from Foreign Office for making more copies.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven prime minister will have to first inform about the purpose and then make a copy of the cipher,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He explained that there were two types of ciphers; one that could only be decoded through customised machines and the other, called book cipher, which carried top secrets, and decoded by people through different codes.<\/p>\n

The issue about cipher surfaced last week, after the federal cabinet accused the former prime minister of sacrificing key national interests for political gains by giving fictitious meaning to a diplomatic cipher, saying Imran had violated his oath and the \u201cOfficial Secrets Act\u201d.<\/p>\n

Can PM be held responsible for missing cipher?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday, also noted that the copy of the cipher was missing from the records of the Prime Minister\u2019s House. The former envoy said that neither the cipher could be taken outside one\u2019s office nor to one\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

However, the diplomat added that in some cases the ciphers were \u201cread only\u201d and only a designated person would take the cipher to the person concerned and bring it back to Foreign Office once it was read.<\/p>\n

On the missing copy of the cipher, the diplomat said, \u201cthe notion was ridiculous\u201d, saying it was not yet clear if the cipher had gone missing from the Prime Minister\u2019s House or the minutes that were prepared after it was read out as suggested in the leaked audios.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prime minister can\u2019t be held responsible for a missing cipher,\u201d he said, \u201cThe prime minister doesn\u2019t keep cipher with him; he doesn\u2019t do filing; such things are kept at his principal secretary\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former diplomat added that the principal secretary also had staff for keeping such things safe, just as a foreign secretary had staff for taking care of secret communications. \u201cIt\u2019s an unending cycle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While commenting on the ongoing controversy, a renowned lawyer said that it was a complicated issue and would require close examination of the record and various laws to comment on the matter.<\/p>\n

When specifically asked what happens when a cipher or its copy goes missing, what crime does it constitute, what laws apply on it and what\u2019s the punishment for it, the lawyer succinctly replied: \u201cThe answer is not obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n

From cipher to audio leaks<\/strong><\/p>\n

The controversy surrounding the diplomatic cable had initially surfaced when Imran had accused a US diplomat of allegedly threatening a Pakistani diplomat in a meeting, who then informed the Foreign Office about it through a cipher.<\/p>\n

The issue came under renewed focus after two audio recordings emerged on social media, wherein Imran, his principal secretary and cabinet ministers were purportedly discussing how would they \u201cplay\u201d with the cipher without naming the country \u2013 the US.<\/p>\n

For a long time, successive governments have been embroiled in audio and video leak scandals but there has never been a comprehensive inquiry into any such allegations and denials. Overall, the ex-diplomat concluded, he had never heard or seen any such thing throughout his career and even afterwards.<\/p>\n

He added that the cipher issue was being presented as if it was the end result and would resolve all the political and economic issues of the country. \u201cThey [politicians] just go after each other when in power,\u201d he regretted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: As the ongoing \u201ccipher imbroglio\u201d deepened in the country in the aftermath of recent audio leaks, a former diplomat questioned on Sunday the federal cabinet\u2019s move to mention the cipher\u2019s number and date and annexure in the cabinet summary. Referring to the federal cabinet documents that were released to media on Sunday which carried […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,39],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19735","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest-news","8":"category-pakistan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19735"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19737,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19735\/revisions\/19737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}